US Pulls out of UNESCO in Dec

Israel also dumps body

Following repeated calls for reform and anti-Israel bias in UNESCO, the United States has said it will withdraw from the organisation at the end of 2018.

Following repeated calls for reform and anti-Israel bias in UNESCO, the United States has said it will withdraw from the organisation at the end of 2018.

The State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement on Thursday.

“On Oct. 12, the Department of State notified UNESCO DirectorGeneral Irina Bokova of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the organisation…

“This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO,” Nauert said.

The spokesperson added that the decision would take effect on Dec. 31, 2018.

The United States will remain a full member of the organization until its withdrawal comes into force, she added.

Nauert said the United States informed Bokova of its desire to remain engaged with the organisation in order to share U.S. perspectives and expertise on issues such as world heritage, press freedom, education and scientific collaboration.

Nauert said the U.S. will seek to establish a permanent observer mission to the United Nations cultural body.

Washington has not paid its dues in the organisation since 2011 to protest against the body’s decision to grant full membership to Palestine.

Prior to its protest, the United States contributed around $80 million annually to the Paris-based UN organisation, which accounted for about 22 per cent of UNESCO’s budget.

Former President Ronald Reagan pulled the United States out of UNESCO in 1983, but the country rejoined the organisation in 2003 under President George W. Bush.

Also Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, yesterday said that his country would withdraw its membership from the UN cultural agency UNESCO.

“Netanyahu instructed the Foreign Ministry to prepare Israel’s withdrawal from the organisation in parallel with the U.S.,’’the prime minister’s office said.

Netanyahu in a statement praised the U.S. decision earlier yesterday to pull out of UNESCO citing an “anti-Israel” bias.

“This is a courageous and moral decision, because UNESCO has become the theatre of the absurd and because, instead of preserving history, it distorts it,” he said.

Also, the U.S. withdrawal from UNESCO is the“price to pay for discrimination against Israel,” Israel’s UN Ambassador, Danny Danon, said in a statement in New York.